ER-, PR-, Her2+ Roll call

@dutchiegirl and @minustwo thank you both for checking in and the wonderful encouragement that we all need!! I know the other ladies will feel the same and be so grateful!!! Congrats to both of you!!

@dutchiegirl and @minustwo You cannot imagine the good that reading your testimonies brings us ❤️ Thank you very much, hope is all we need 😊🥰 I'm so glad you're safe💐

You make me believe in a cure and in being able to do my trips and mountain trails again and having my waist-length wavy hair again. A normal life 🙏

All the best for you all!

Hello everyone. Does anyone have an experience of having a baby post treatment for HER2 positive ER neg. During chemo, I have been put on gosrelin shots to freeze my ovaries (and plan to come off it after chemo is over), as we needed to start treatment quickly, there was no time to freeze my eggs. I know that we will need to wait a couple of years until after treatment is finished before considering this at all. The oncologist was clear that this "may or may not work".

I already have two beautiful children but we were planning to add to our family before this news hit us. I wasn't quite ready to close this chapter in my life and was just wondering whether, realistically, we have a shot.

Thanks for the recommendation of La Roche Posay Toleriane moisturizer! My face feels so much better!

@dutchiegirl @minustwo I sending you 2 giant bear hugs for your so very hopeful and uplifting messages about life after cancer treatment! 💞

@beekaycro24 You're welcome, I'm glad the moisturizer helped, from what my MO said, it really is the best line of products in the market for the skin of those undergoing chemotherapy 😊

@grammie2 I hope it's just fluid and it doesn't delay the start of radiation, the sooner the better! But I'm sure if it's not that (and seromas are very common), it will be fat tissue or scar tissue. You achieved PCR, a tumor wouldn't grow that quickly, especially after chemotherapy, and from what I've read, what you have seems to be a relatively common thing. My ultrasounds and mammograms also never had contrast and it was with them that they detected my mass. I know that worry is normal, I'm like that too and I start thinking about all the scenarios, but analyzing the situation carefully, whatever you have won't be anything bad. I feel very confident 😊

And I hope your treatment is not delayed! Good luck 🙏

@grammie2 lifting you up in prayer for great news. Based on what @catarina_fm has found I would agree it seems too soon to grow so fast. ❤️❤️

@grammie2 we are all praying for you! I really really hope your treatment is not delayed! As soon as you have news, please tell us. And by the way, tell us how it went with PT! Some of us will need it too, I definitely will, and I'm also curious. Not sure about PT but here at my hospital patients have physiotherapy appointments several times! It's a bit annoying because I still live some distance away but I want to do everything I can to recover as best as possible.

My house cleaning day was today, I finally felt better from my mucositis (blessed magic mouthwash recipe 🙏) and I spent my morning doing that.

It is a great gesture to help children have a happier Christmas, I really liked your idea of packing shoeboxes! I always help an institution for orphaned or poor children here, they write a letter to Santa Claus with a request for a gift and I choose 2 or 3 and offer these gifts. But maybe I'll do something similar to yours too, the truth is that we always have so many things at home that we can be more sustainable and we don't even need to buy anything.

Great weekend to everyone! 💖

I'm not too far out from active treatment, but I thought maybe my perspective might be useful.

I was 40 at diagnosis (turned 41 the week before chemo) and I'd never felt so terrified in my life. This was in spring 2022. I never considered myself strong in a medical setting, and felt inadequate that I wasn't. But at some point someone said: "You don't have to be strong. You just have to show up." I get emotional thinking about that now. I had so many dark days going through chemo. It felt like it would never end, that I didn't know who I was anymore, and truth be told I still struggle with that from time to time.

I remember women who'd been there before me saying it'll fly by. One day you'll wake up and it'll be done and you won't be in that chair anymore. They were right. I used to read posts like this and think, oh gosh I'll never get there. But then I did. It was crazy. I still had to go back for Herceptin for over a year after that, but that was so much easier than chemo.

Then came the day that I wouldn't have to go back for Herceptin. Oddly, I was a bit scared to let go by then. But one of my favorite nurses chased me out of there. If she'd had a broom I think she would have turned it on me. LOL. That was nearly a year ago. Chemo two years ago next month. Surgery nearly 2 1/2 years ago.

Worry about recurrence is still strong for me, like so many of us, but it has gotten better. Things do get so much better.

I met two others during treatment, all of us younger. One was Stage 3c with over 20 positive lymphs. The other Stage IV De Novo, the youngest among us at 33. Both are doing really well, particularly my De Novo friend who's still NED. She's a constant inspiration.

Someone else once quoted Winston Churchill on this forum: "When you're going through hell, keep moving."

I think that'll apply to any tough situation for me now.

Grammie: Yes to the LEPT. I went for several sessions after my mastectomy - diagnosed as mild LE on the left & directed to just take care, wear a sleeve at altitude, don't allow sticks or pricks or blood pressure on that arm, do exercises.

But after my recurrence and ALND surgery & chemo & radiation - I definitely now have LE in my right side. It's mostly chest and truncal (weird unusual option), but I've been proactive so it doesn't spread to my arm. (so far so good for 10 years!!) I wear sleeves & gauntlets when I fly. I wear a compression bra 24/7 - but I found one that mostly looks good under clothes. (I'll put the link below). I go in for LEPT once a year or every other year - maybe 6 sessions when they measure to make sure it's staying 'quiet' & re-train me on the exercises I'm supposed to do at home.

This bra was recommended by several docs for mild compression. Especially good that it is high in the back and under the arms. It's comfortable & dries quickly & low enough in front that it doesn't show under clothes. https://www.wearease.com/products/sydney-bra?variant=17218223013931

@dutchiegirl and @minustwo and @jh40 thank you thank you thank you to each of you for showing up here for us to lift us up. To hear that this will someday be a blip and that I could grow my hair long if I want, and yes, even hearing the full honest picture that there are some lingering emotional effects of going through such a dark and frightening time are all a big comfort to me. You give me hope and also grounding in knowing what’s ahead. I am so grateful. Thank you for returning over and over with your messages. It means the world.

@grammie2 I’m also here with hope for you that you’ve got fluid in there or something benign and that you’ll have no or minimal delay of your next step of radiation. I know that feeling of come ON let’s GO and get it behind you. Let us know what you learn. Meanwhile, I’m praying for you.

@grammie2 and @catarina_fm What an inspiration you both are in turning outside of yourselves especially at a time like this in your lives with Christmas lovingkindness to children. Also so glad the homemade mouthwash concoction was a success for you, @catarina_fm! I’m so glad for your relief!

@jessybessy Prayers and hopes to you too.This whole cancer and cancer treatment experience creates such turmoil and upends things in such huge and important ways. I am so sorry you have to deal with this. Were you able to connect with anyone else who’s also had to temporarily freeze their ovaries while getting the treatment done? I hope you’ve been able to hear some words of encouragement from someone with lived experience.